Port of Bridgeport, CT

Riding the Acela Regional this weekend I noticed a huge black and orange bulk carrier docked in Bridgeport. It looked to be south of where they usually unload reefers, across from the powerplant.

So, some rail *and* marine questions, for anyone who can answer them:

*What is imported/exported in Bridgeport? There seemed to be a conveyor belt filling the holds of the bulker. Are reefers still coming in, too?

*Does the CSX industrial track that splits off the NEC in Stratford run to the water? Does the railroad have any hand in the port business?

Rob

There is no longer any rail service at port of Bridgeport, yes the reefers still come in.

It would seem Bridgeport did a nice clean up of about any railroad track that might have remained the last decade or so.

Unsightly? The 'rail-trail' going north had some remnants of spur tracks coming off of it and I think thats even shiny clean of anything to be seen suggesting a railroad in area.

The new stadium took out industrial trackage in that area.(old southern section of Housatonic RR.)

Over on the east side abandoned industrial trackage still exists up to and past the old GE complex but I think they are still in process of re-development that surely rids the area of that unsightly thing.

The old Seaview Ave. line? That served the harbor around old Carpenter Steel. I can't see one trace of rail anywhere as if it were selectively removed---even sections in streets....

There is a line going out to recycling plant west of the stadium area. I guess it still sits there still unused but by now MAYBE the I-95 construction has removed that also?

The Stratford Industrial I think has Mobil as a customer and somebody 'new' north of that? Otherwise the line passes EX-customers and ends out in the National Wildlife Refuge.

(and thats in Stratford)

Bridgeport is one big transportation plug with I-95 grid-lock forever. Despite the loss of industry everywhere it seems hard to believe there is nothing that could move by rail. Maybe chronically no marketing?
(decades of it)

Some big bold new plan as a port? Sure...unload more things onto I-95.

I live in Bridgeport and ride MNR to work, and there's nothing connected (in terms of sidings) to the main line in the Bridgeport area any more. Blame the exodus of heavy industry from the area and the freight-railroading unfriendly nature of the line being owned by the MNR, which is focused on moving passenger trains in large numbers.

If anything were to move on the New Haven line these days, it would have to be intermodal, and there's just no good connections for freight since NYC bifurcates the railroads east and west of the Hudson. Amtrak and/or state commuter railroads' ownership of the northest corridor lines (ex PRR NYC-Washington DC, ex NH NYC - Boston, MA) has made freight into something of an outcast, and trains aren't particularly truck competitive in short haul markets like these. The only viable option would be Roadrailers (no doublestack clearances under wires, and piggyback (trailers) only conventional intermodal just isn't practical in these days of just-about-every-intermodal-train-has-at-least-SOME-doublestack-equipment-in-it.

Hudson River tunnels (ex PRR) never had clearance for much freight equipment, certainly not intermodal (though again, Roadrailers would fit), and are capacity strained anyway. By the time trains sat and waited for the wee hours when the commuter trains didn't need all the capacity available, the trucks could be to their destinations - even with Route 95 gridlock, since the distances are short. Until some infrastructure improvements are made, i.e., multiple tunnels/tracks connecting west of Hudson with east of Hudson rail lines, which is unlikely to happen given lack of government interest in investing in the type of transport they SHOULD be interested in investing in, i.e. rail, and the lack of interest in commuter and passenger railroads to allow freight trains to run without restrictions that render them unable to compete for traffic, we'll continue to see New England freight that's not going all the way to Boston or that's coming from the southeast as opposed to the west moving by truck up 95. Sad but that's what we're stuck with. There are SOME customers (one lumberyard I see freight cars in on my train ride) that CSX switches on the New Haven line, but they aren't exactly doing a booming business along the old NH.